A new form of vehicle advertising scored big during Super Bowl Week.
Digital Visual Werks (DVW), a start-up display company in Palm Springs,
CA, is using current display-graphics technology to capitalize on the
growing interest in advertising signage that can easily be changed
throughout the day to target different groups of viewers.
To allow advertisers to test the concepts and benefits of highly
targeted messages on dynamic signage-without investing in costly display
screens-DVW offers scrolling displays that use wireless remote-control
technology to show changing sequences of ad graphics.
DVW rolled out the concept during Super Bowl Week in San Diego in
January. GasLamp Shuttle, a small, start-up company that transports
tourists throughout San Diego's entertainment district via electric,
golf-cart-type vehicles used the signs not only to generate new
revenues, but also to call attention to their services. It worked
phenomenally well, according to DVW's Paul Castro. During the days
leading up to the Super Bowl, the owners of GasLamp Shuttle received
inquiries from some of the nation's biggest and best-known
brand-marketers. DVW displays were also carried atop vehicles operated
by Cloud9 Shuttle service, which drove Super Bowl fans to and from the
airport.
Currently the displays come in two forms: a vehicle-top unit and a
wall-mounted unit. Each unit holds a magazine of up to 24 different ads
printed with HP UV pigmented inks on HP Designjet wide-format inkjets
with HP Colorlucent Backlit media. A two-way, satellite communications
module instructs a motor which of the ads to scroll into position, when,
and for how long. The displays can be leased from DVW, which retains
control over the communications module and sends the commands via
satellite network.
Castro says the transportation companies they've approached like
the fact that the ads can be changed as vehicles travel through
different parts of the cities. For instance, beer and tobacco companies
might prefer to book ad time for late afternoon and evening periods;
coffee companies might prefer morning time periods. Or, ads could change
from English to Spanish as the vehicle travels through different
neighborhoods.
DVW is using their scrolling displays to help lay the groundwork for
the future ad programs using changeable signage. According to Castro,
DVW has other display products in the pipeline. Companies leasing
scrolling displays from DVW are being assured that they will never have
obsolete equipment. For more details, check out the March/April issue of
The Big Picture. (Digital Visual Werks: 858-829-2108;
www.digitalvisualwerks.com)